What is Love?
by Melantha A
Summary: What is love? Truthfully, it's a complicated, unexplainable emotion, especially among siblings. [SandSibs]


Why Love?

By Balletphantom

1 

A/N: I just wanted to warn you about extreme OOC-ness. Sorry.

1 

Temari was lounging on her back on the slightly slanting roof of the hotel that she and her siblings were staying at, gazing at the moon. She should be sleeping, as it was late and she was technically recovering. She and Kankuro had been injured on their last mission, but as usual Gaara returned without a scratch. Temari thought about usual and how its meaning had changed since their botched attempt at conquering Konoha. Before, Gaara would have never helped his siblings; he would have called them weak and left them to die. But since the fight with Naruto, Gaara had changed. He had become more caring and opened up to them more. Temari suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She closed her eyes, smirking.

"You should be sleeping." She said, thinking it was Kankuro looking for her.

"I can't." Temari sat up and whirled around, shocked to see Gaara standing silhouetted by the moon. He didn't look angry at her.

"Gaara! What are you doing out here?" He sat down beside her, shrugging.

"You weren't it bed, so I came to find you. I wanted to talk." Temari lay back, wincing slightly.

"Of course. Anytime." Gaara closed his eyes.

"Why did you do that?" Temari frowned, thinking over the previous day's events.

_The sand was not working. Temari couldn't understand why the sand that always protected her youngest brother was laying pooled around his feet. The enemy laughed. _

_"That sand won't work on me, child." He was so condescending; Temari could feel her anger growing. She looked at Kankuro, who was bleeding._

_"Take Gaara and run." She hissed at him. He had almost zero chakra and Gaara was staring, shocked, at a slice on his arm. They could not fight. She would take care of this irritating opponent herself. _

_"No, I won't leave you alone." She rolled her eyes. _

_"You can't do anything. Run, I'll catch up." Temari unrolled her fan, noticing a darting movement out of the corner of her eye. The irritating enemy in front of her was only an illusion. The real shinobi had shot around her while she was arguing with Kankuro. He was shooting towards the paralyzed Gaara, a pointed needle flashing in his hand. Temari stopped thinking. All she knew was she had to protect Gaara. Dropping her fan she through herself in front of her youngest sibling, taking the brunt of the attack. The needle pasted through her chest making her scream in agony. Gaara was brought out of his fog, staring confused as Temari dropped to her knees. And Gaara got mad. He raised his hand and the sand caught the enemy in his glee. He crushed him to death, smiling as he got retribution. Temari looked scared for a moment before Gaara's face swarmed before her eyes and she passed out. _

"Why did you do that?" Gaara asked again, when Temari did not answer him immediately. Temari looked at him, an emotion swelling in her chest.

"Because I love you Gaara." He looked even more confused.

"Why do you love me? No one loves me." Temari shook her head.

"You're my little brother. I cannot explain why I love you, but I think that's part of love. You don't need to explain why you love someone, especially someone related to you." Gaara was still confused. "I know you don't understand love, but someday you will." Gaara shook his head.

"I think I understand. When you were hurt, I got mad, and I really wanted to protect you. Is that love?" Temari nodded, feeling like she was going to cry.

"Yes. That's love, Gaara."

"Oh." Silence fell between the two, until Gaara lay back. He rested his head on Temari's heart, his left arm lying across her stomach. Temari curled her arm around Gaara's shoulders, her other arm coming to encircle him in her embrace. Silent tears streamed down Temari's face. "Why are you crying?" Gaara asked without moving.

"It's just…you haven't done this since…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. She meant, since the day he awoke the demon and saved himself from the assassination attempt. But, as a small child, he would use her as a pillow sometimes if he was lonely and wanted to take a nap, but was unable to. It was a comforting thing for him. The present Gaara smiled.

"Are you still hurt?" He asked her.

"I'm getting better." She answered, unsure what had caused the sudden concern.

"You heartbeat is weak." He said. Temari kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry." Temari thought for a moment. "Thanks for caring." Temari closed her eyes, exhausted. Her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. Gaara lifted his head, looking for a moment at his elder sister's face. She looked a little troubled, obviously still in pain. His muscles tightened and he folded himself into a small ball, closing his own eyes. He couldn't sleep but he stayed there with Temari as the moon set and the sun began to rise.

As the sky brightened Temari blinked awake. She was surprised to see that Gaara was still lying on her chest. He opened his eyes to look at her when she struggled to sit up. He helped her up.

"Did you sit here all night with me?" Gaara nodded. Temari smiled. "Thanks. We should get back inside, Kankuro would be worried." Temari tried to stand, but found that on top of her initial injuries sleeping on a roof did not do her any good. Her muscles were stiff, and unable to support her weight. "Ow." She said sinking back down. Gaara didn't say anything. He put his right arm around her shoulders, and his left under her knees, lifting her up. Temari threw her arms around Gaara's neck. He carried her back into the hotel room, ignoring Kankuro's shocked stare.

"Temari?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

_The End_


End file.
